Nathan Burke's Day
by singerme
Summary: Just a day with Burke.


**Nathan Burke's Day**

I don't own these characters; I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.

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Nathan Burke rose early, looked out the window by his bed and seeing that it was still dark outside, settled himself back against his pillow. He was just about to drift back off to sleep when it dawned on him he had to be at the freight office early. A shipment was coming in for Miss Kitty and he had promised to be there to receive it and get it to her as soon as it arrived. And Nathan always prided himself on keeping his promises.

Pulling himself from bed, Nathan wondered what could possibly be in the shipment that was so important to the saloon owner. It wasn't like she had any real need of anything, she couldn't obtain locally.

Or at least, not that he knew of.

And Nathan Burke knew quite a bit.

Yes siree bob, Leonard Burke's baby boy, Nathan, knew more about the Dodge City citizens than they ever realized. Of course, all too often he had to ask numerous questions and sometimes make a pest of himself to get the answers he sought, but he couldn't help himself. Nathan wanted to know about everyone and everything. It was part of his nature.

Of course, he was aware of Doc and other's opinion of him. They considered him nosey and a blowhard and some even considered him dull-witted but that's not how he saw himself. He was just an inquisitive man in an interesting town who was curious about any and everything concerning that town and its residents.

Quickly pulling on his clothes, Nathan brushed his hair, scrubbed his teeth and grabbed his hat and coat, heading off to work.

He arrived at the freight office before the sun had even made an effort to peak over the horizon so his shop was dark when he entered. Quickly making his way to his desk, he lit the lamp on top, managing to only knock over one box that was sitting haphazardly in his way.

Picking it up, he saw it was a package for Mrs. Botkin. A slight shake confirmed whatever was inside was breakable and now broken. For several seconds he stood in a small quandary as to what to do with it. He couldn't just pretend he hadn't received it. It had been in a small shipment of goods that he had personally signed for. But he knew the infamous temper of the venerable banker's wife and she would throw herself a fit when she discovered it was broken, whatever _it_was.

Taking a self-conscious look around, Nathan pulled his knife from his pocket and quickly opened the package. He found a small figurine inside, now evenly divided into three parts. For several seconds he stared at the broken knick knack before a thought came to him of what to do.

Reaching into his cupboard, he pulled out a small canister of glue and a brush. Swiftly as he could, he inexpertly glued the piece back together and then settled it back down into the box it had arrived in. Putting in a little more paper, he finally closed the box up and tied new twine around the side to seal it. Hopefully, Mrs. Botkin would never see the cracks in the piece or notice the tiny little pieces that he'd not been able to put back on. If she did, he'd disavow all knowledge of what possibly had happened to it.

Carefully placing the box on the back of his desk, well away from the edge, he made a note to himself to have it delivered later that day.

Over the next couple of hours, Nathan made himself busy, moving and sorting boxes based on where they were going and the approximate value of each one. Expensive looking packages got much more attention and care than the others.

When the shipment for Miss Kitty arrived, he signed his name on the forms, indicating he'd received it, and then looked it over very carefully. It was large and oblong. The last time the saloon owner had received a crate like this, it had contained the biggest claw foot bath tub that he'd ever seen, also the heaviest.

This crate looked to be just as heavy if not heavier. For the second time already that day, Nathan Burke found himself in a quandary. He seriously wanted to know just exactly what was in the large and cumbersome box but Miss Kitty had given specific instructions that when it arrived, it was to be delivered to her unopened.

Work ethics warred with curiosity and for several minutes there, it looked like curiosity would win out as he grabbed a pry bar and looked to see if there was perhaps a loose board he could pull off without causing a mark. But finally, he put the bar back down and stepped back. When Jack, his hired man, arrived, he'd have him help take the large package to the saloon unopened as ordered.

Of course that didn't mean that Nathan wouldn't try to help Miss Kitty open it, once he got it there. After all, it was part of his job. Wasn't it?

Glancing at the clock on the wall, he noticed Delmonico's would probably be opened by now and as Jack wouldn't be there for another hour, he decided to make his way over to the café, have some breakfast and perhaps glean some local news that he'd missed somehow. Although that seldom happened, still you never could tell.

Sadly, though his meal was good and the coffee strong, nothing else about his hour at the café was interesting in the slightest. People, who he might share a meal and gossip with, weren't in town this early and most people who were in town, seldom wanted to make conversation with Nathan, for some odd reason.

That was something he didn't fully understand of course. You'd think he was a blabbermouth or something and he knew he wasn't. He would never tell anyone's secrets if he knew them. But to his way of looking at it, if he knew something, then most probably everyone else in town knew about it and there was no harm in his speculation and talk on the matter if that was the case. And if no one else did know, then that fact simply served to point out his importance in town.

Take, for instance, Miss Kitty and the Marshal. Everyone in town knew they were a couple. It hadn't been a real secret in years, and it most definitely wasn't one now, after Jude Bonner. But still they persisted in keeping their personal lives together, well, personal. He certainly didn't understand it. Why not go ahead and get married now. It was obvious that not getting married hadn't kept Miss Kitty from any harm.

Thinking on the matter as he walked back to his office, Nathan realized there were a great number of things he didn't understand about the beautiful woman and the stoic lawman. But right then and there, he didn't need to.

He needed to go back to work.

Arriving back at his office, he found Jack already hard at work moving boxes and crates and getting packages ready for delivery. Handing the small box, intended for Mrs. Botkin, to his assistant, he instructed him to deliver it right away then return quickly, so they could take their biggest delivery over to the Long Branch.

Once Jack left, Nathan sat down at his desk and buried himself in paperwork, the bane of his existence but oddly enough, the one thing he seemed to excel in. He got so ensconced in bills of lading and invoices that he didn't notice till later that Jack had returned, bringing with him a couple of other men and had delivered Miss Kitty's crate to her, unopened.

Ruefully, he realized that now, he may never know what it had contained. It was a certainty that neither Sam nor Miss Kitty would tell him.

Shaking his head in irritation, he went back to work only to be interrupted a moment later by a ruckus out in the street. Stepping outside, he saw the Marshal riding in, halfway slumped over his saddle, a bright red stain on his shirt front. Without giving it a thought, Nathan Burke ran towards the horse and practically caught the wounded man as his grip on the reins and reality failed him and slid from his mount.

Calling frantically for Doc, he helped the fallen lawman to his feet and out of the street just as Doc, followed closely by Miss Kitty, arrived at his side. Within minutes, Doc had taken charge and gotten several men, including Burke, to help the Marshal up to his office as he and Kitty Russell followed.

Burke didn't miss the expression on the red head's face as they passed her and for once, he had no desire to question what had happened or how. That knowledge would eventually be known. But right then, the look of pain and horror that he saw marring the beautiful woman's face, was enough to still his tongue.

Later that evening, as he sat at a table in the Long Branch, drinking a well-earned beer, Burke wondered how the Marshal and Miss Kitty were doing. He noticed that Miss Kitty was still up in Doc's office. She hadn't emerged since she'd entered, and most likely wouldn't, until the man who held her heart was well and walking out with her.

Festus had come down from Doc's office earlier in the afternoon and told everyone that Doc had managed to remove the bullet in the Marshal's chest, put there by a bank robber as he himself lay dying of the Marshal's good aim. Festus assured everyone that Matt Dillon would live and before long, would once again protect law and order in their community.

He was grateful for that news. Never the most courageous man, he did know courage when he saw it. And he saw it quite often when he watched people like Matt Dillon, Kitty Russell, Doc Adams and some of the others going about their daily lives. It took courage to carry a badge, or to run a saloon like the Long Branch when you didn't fit everyone's idea of a saloon owner, or ride clear out into the prairie to tend to sick folks, not knowing if you'd get there or get back.

Burke admired that courage. But sitting back with his drink, he realized that although he didn't have that kind of bravery, he did have some mettle of his own. He had more than once, ridden in posse's or helped out as a deputy when the Marshal needed him. Of course, he chose to forget the many times he'd also failed to help in those same circumstances.

Some things were just better left alone.

Sighing deeply, Nathan Burke finally got to his feet, raised a hand to Sam in farewell and left the saloon, headed home. The day had been long and busy and tomorrow promised no better. But that was just part of living and working in a town like Dodge City. It was not a peaceful and quiet town and he liked it that way.

Peaceful towns didn't have the excitement that Dodge had and he knew he'd be bored to tears in any place that didn't contain people like those here in Dodge. Who on earth would he talk to any other town? And what would he talk about? And at the end of the any day, that was the most important thing to Nathan Burke.

Taking a look at the now darkened sky, Nathan sighed once more and walked back home. Tomorrow, he'd have new stories to tell about how he saved Matt Dillon when he rode into town, a bullet hole in his chest. But tonight, he just wanted to go to bed and sleep.

The End


End file.
